It is 5.30am and the wind is howling around me. It has been going on all night. The forecast says it is 25mph but it sounds much faster. It regularly buffets the sides of my tent, the whole structure shifting and the nylon cloth flapping. The thick gorse nearby seems to provide some shelter from the south but it also seems to create unpredictable gusts from all sides. Yet despite what is happening outside I am lying cozy in my sleeping bag.
Initially we decided to sit out the day and await the better weather tomorrow; walking the ridge in this wind did not seem appealing. I was surprised by how easily I could doze through the morning after a good night's sleep last night and with the noise of the wind outside. By midday though we had changed our view and decided to try and make some progress along the route, even if only to the protection of those woods. Unfortunately Graham became unwell before we had gone too far and after various attempts at continuing and some discussion between us we have ended up with me continuing the walk while Mark heads back home with Graham.
Now alone, I headed up onto the ridge, the wind blasting me from the right. I had no fear of being blown off - although being blown over was another matter - as the ridge top was wide and gently sloping. The path underfoot was soft grass and was lined either side with banks of pink and purple heather and overall it was more protected from the worst of the wind than I had expected. Wind aside, between the views to the west across the relative flat and cultivated expanse between here and Snowdonia, the scenery along the ridge and the milky sun trying to poke through a cloud covered sky, it made for an enjoyable walk.
That was to be the first of four ridge walks: four times in the day I made hard climbs onto windy tops only to descend again a little later to a road or car park and then repeat. I made good time on the undulating ridge lines but the steep climbs to reach them slowed me down. The fourth climb was up the brown and barren landscape to the summit of Moel Famau with its solid block of a Jubilee Tower, a monument celebrating King George III's Golden Jubilee, rebuilt in 1970 after the original collapsed in a storm due to poor workmanship. By now I was having to stop regularly on the ascent but I knew this would be my last climb of the day. I was grateful for that and for a descent that was easier than I had expected: long and gentle on a flat, wide and well-serviced path rather than a steep mountain slope. By the time I was on that path my weariness was getting the better of me and I knew I was approaching the close of my day.
I have been finding it strange to walk alone. Given that I have done many trips on my own and have no difficulty in travelling solo - in many ways I enjoy it - that seems an unusual reaction to the situation. I guess having travelled up and planned to walk this trip with friends formed a stark contrast to the situation I now found myself in and helps account for the rather solitary sense I felt as I climbed and crossed a largely empty landscape alone. I am sure at some point my head will 'reset' and I will fall into my usual mindset for solo travelling - of being content with and enjoying my own company- but not today.
This afternoon’s main issue though was the wind. It was a constant feature and always a distraction. It also in part drove my thinking: the problem I had been grappling with as I walked was the need to get miles under my belt after a late start while also looking for somewhere sheltered to camp tonight. However, the further along the route I go the more the route seems to become exposed to the south westerly winds. In the end though, tiredness largely trumped topography and I have ended my day camped in a remote picnic area, unable to face the hill I have to climb to continue on from here and behind which I would have been better protected from the weather.
As I lie here in my tent in the early evening the wind is still blowing, although not as badly as last night, and the forecast is for it to continue for a large part of tomorrow. I can also hear a spattering of drizzle against the tent. My dinner has been one of cold tinned food, it is a little too windy to cook outside and anyway I am too tired to give myself any extra work. Hopefully I will now get a good night's sleep which will revive me in readiness for what I face tomorrow.
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